Beet-loader.



No. 859,364. PATENTED JULY 9; 1907. n. s. CHAMBERS, M. e. moomn, LG.RUFF 6: c. A! MoGRARY..

BEBT LOADER.

APPLIOATION FILED 4 .23.23, 1906.

2 sums-sum 1. J'" J, 1; a"

111: mum's Pen-ms cu. wAsnmcrcN, 0. c4

PATENTED JULY 9, 1907.

D. S. CHAMBERS, M. G. P-ROOME, J. G. HUFP & G. A. MOGRARY.

BEET LOADER.

APPLICATION rmm APBHZQ, 1906.

anvenliozs WW" aooeo W 6/ dual UNITED STATES DAVID S. CHAMBERS, MOSCOE GPATENT OFFICE.

BEET-LOADER.

' Specification of Letters TPatent.

Patented July 9, 1907.

Application filed April 23,1906. Serial No. 313,288.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, DAVID S. CHAMBERs, Moscon G. FRooMn, JACOB C. HUFF,and CHARLES A. Me- CRARY, citizens of the United States, residing at LaGraude,- in the county of Union and State of Oregon, have invented newand useful Improvements in Beet- Loaders, of which the following is aspecification.

Our invention pertains to beet loaders; and it has for its generalobject to provide a simple and inexpensive machine adapted to beoperated by a single person, and constructed with a view of taking sugarbeets and the like from the ground, freeing the beets of dirt to a largeextent, and conveying the beets to and discharging the same into a wagondrawn along at one side of the machine.

The invention will be fully understood from the following descriptionand claims when the same are read in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, forming part of this specification, in which:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of the sugar beet loader constituting thepresent and preferred embodiment of our invention. Fig. 2 is a sideelevation of the machine. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal central sectionillustrating the conveyer for moving the beets rearwardly, and alsoillustrating the fork through the medium of which the beets are raisedfrom the ground, and the arrangement of the said conveyer for moving thebeets rearwardly, relative to the elevator for moving the beets upwardlyand laterally and discharging the same into a wagon drawn along at theright hand side of the machine. Fig. 4 is a transverse sectionillustrating the construction of the elevator.

Similar letters designate corresponding parts in all of the views of thedrawings, referring to which:

A is the main frame of our novel machine. The said main frame ispreferably of the construction shown, though it may be of anyconstruction compatible with the purposes of our invention withoutinvolving a departure from the scope thereof.

B and C are the rear wheels of the machine. These wheels 13 and C aremountedon separate axles D, and in addition to supporting the rearportion of the main frame A, the wheel C is designed to drive theendless apron of the longitudinal conveyer while the wheel B is designedto drive the endless apron of the lateral elevator, as will behereinafter described in detail.

E is a front axle connected through the medium of the usual king bolt Fto the forward portion of the main frame A. The said front axle E isdesigned to be swung in opposite directions on the king bolt in themanner common to the front axles of carriages and wagons, and isequipped with wheels G and the usual pole or tongue H; the latter beingdesigned to permit of draft animals being hitched to the machine so asto draw the same over the beet field. The driver of the machine standsduring the use thereof on the front part of the frame A, and hence itwill be apparent that he is enabled to control the draft animals andguide the machine and is also enabled to operate the fork presentlydescribed and in that way control the transfer of the beets from theground to the beforementioned wagon that is moved along at the righthand side of the machine.

I is the longitudinal conveyer of our machine.

J is the lateral elevator, and K is the beet-raising fork.

As best shown in Fig. 3 the conveyer I as a whole is inclined downwardlyand forwardly to a slight extent; and it is made up of side bars a,longitudinal ribs 1) fixed with respect to the side bars, preferablythrough the medium of fixed transverse bars 0, and arranged a slightdistance apart so as to permit dirt to drop between them, and havingupper edges d which are slightly convex in the direction of their lengthfor a purpose presently described, and an endless apron made up ofsprocket chains 6 mounted on sprocket wheels f carried by transverseshafts g and h at opposite ends of the conveyer, and crosswise slides kconnected to the sprocket chains and movable over the upper edges of theribs 12 and having for their office to move beets rearwardly on the saidribs. By virtue of the upper edges d of the ribs b being slightly convexin the direction of their length, the said edges are higher at themiddle of the conveyer I than at the ends thereof, and from this itfollows that the slides will fit close on the ribs during the rearwardmovements of the slides, and will be effectually prevented from jumpingor passing idly over the beets on the ribs. During the rearward passageof the beets on the conveyer I and before the slides or followers k, aconsiderable portion of the dirt taken up with the beets will be knockedtherefrom, and will fall between the ribs b to the ground. The endlessapron of the conveyor I is driven by the rear wheel C through the mediumof the driving connection illustrated, which driving connectioncomprises an exteriorly toothed gear L fixed to the wheel C, and apinion M fixed on the conveyer shaft h and intermeshed with the saidgear L.

The lateral elevator J is, as best shown in Fig. 4, made up of side barsa, longitudinal ribs b fixed to cross-bars c which in turn are fixed tothe side bars a the said ribs b" having their upper edges slightlyconvex in the direction of the length thereof, as indicated by cl, forthe purpose hereinbefore described with reference to the ribs b of theconveyer I, and an endless apren comprising sprocket chains a mounted onsprocket wheels f carried by transverse shafts g and h at opposite endsof the elevator, and crosswise slides 70 connected to the sprocketchains so as to move upwardly over the upper edges of the ribs 1) andhaving for their function to raise the beets on the said ribs which areinclined to the extent illustrated. The apron of the elevator J isdriven by the traveling wheel B of the machine through the medium of thedriving connection illustrated which comprises a miter gear P fixed onthe shaft h, an int'eriorly toothed gear Q fixed to the wheel B, and atransverse shaft R journaled in suitable bearings in the main frame andhaving a miter gear S at one end intermeshed with the miter gear P, anda pinion T at its opposite end intermeshed with the gear Q.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that during the progress of themachine, the slides 1c of the conveyer I will be moved rearwardly insuccession over the ribs b thereof, while the slides k of the elevator Jwill be moved upwardly and laterally-in succession over the ribs 1)thereof, and this without care or attention on the part of the driver ofthe machine. It will also be apparent that the conveyer I will dischargethe beets on the apron of' the elevator .l, and that one of the slidesIt" of the elevator will always be in a position to support any beetsthat may be deposited on the lower portion of the elevator.

The fork K comprises a transverse shaft m journaled in the forwardportions of the side bars a comprised in the conveyer 1, times n fixedto and extending forwardly from the shaft m, and one or more lever armsp fixed to the shaft in and disposed inside of the main frame A. Byvirtue of the fork having a lever arm p arranged within convenient reachof the driver of the machine, it will be seen that the driver is enabledwith one hand to'rock the fork K upwardly, at intervals during theprogress of the machine, and in that way cause the beets that arecollected on the fork to roll down the tines on to one of the slides kof the conveyer I which is always in position to receive beets from thefork. As indicated in the foregoing the shaft of the fork may have butone lever arm p without involving departure from the scope of ourinvention. We prefer, however, to provide the shaft with two lever armsp as illustrated, this in order to permit of an attendant assisting thedriver of the machine in manipulating the fork K when the crop of beetsis a plentiful one. I

In the practical use of the machine, the machine is driven over thefield with the tines of the fork K restin g at their forward ends on oradjacent to the ground, and hence it will be apparent that the beetsencountered by the fork will be taken up on the same. At in tervalsduring the progress of the machine the driver swings the fork Kupwardly, and in that way effects the transfer of the beets to theconveyer I. The latter carries the beets rearwardly and discharges thesame on the elevator J, and the said elevator carries the beets upwardand laterally and disch. rges the same into the body of a wagon that isdrawn along at the right hand side of the machine. Incident to therearward passage of the beets on the conveyer I a considerable portionof the dirt is separated from the beets and permitted to drop betweenthe ribs and to the ground. This is also true of the passage of thebeets up the elevator .l and consequently when the beets are received inthe wagon they are in a clean condition.

It will be gathered from the foregoing that our novel sugar beet loadermay be handled with the same facility as a wagon; it being merelynecessary for the driver in turning the machine at the end of a field toraise the points of the fork tines from the ground.

It will also be gathered that the machine is simple and inexpensive inconstruction, is light of draft, and includes no delicate parts such asare likely to get out of order after a short period of use.

We have entered into a detailed description of the construction andrelative arrangement of the parts included in the present and preferredembodiment of our invention in order to impart a definite understandingof the said embodiment. We do not desire, however, to be understood asconfining ourselves to the said specific construction and relativearrangement of partsas such changes or modifications may be made inpractice as fairly fall within the scope of our claimed invention.

Having described our invention, what we claim and desire to secure byLetters-Patent, is:

In a beet loader, the combination of a wlreehsupported main frame, alongitudinal conveyer arranged in the main frame and having an endlessapron and also having side bars fixed with respect to said frame, and avertically swinging, beet raising device comprising a transverserockshaft journaled in the side bars of the conveyer at a point slightlyin front of the apron thereof and terminating at its ends inangulurly-disposed arms movable vertically hetwcen the sidebars of theconveyer and the side bars of the main frame, and tines fixed to andextending downward and forward from said rock-shaft.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

DAVID S. CHAMBERS. MOSCOE G. FROOME. .TACOB C. HUFF. CHARLES A. MCCRARY.

Witnesses .lorrN E. HOUGH, MArmI. A. IIOUGIL

